Worm gearing



Dec. 18, 1951 G. E. DATH 2,578,784

WORM GEARING Filed March 3, 194? 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 .Znrew i or:

Dec. 18, 1951 ca. E. DATH 2,578,784

WORM GEARING Filed March 3, 1947 s Sheets-Sheet 5 Invenfir: e w

Patented Dec. 18, 1951 WORM GEARING George E. Dath, Mokena, Ill., assignor to W. H.

Miner,.Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application March 3, 1947, Serial No. 731,904

This invention relates to improvements in deck hoists for railway cars.

One object of the invention is to provide simple and efiicient, manually operated mechanism for raising and lowering the upper deck or floor of a railway car. r

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a manually actuated hoisting mechanism for raising and lowering the upper deck of a railway car, comprising worm gear actuated chain winding means of simple and compact design, including a winding shaft, driven by the worm gearing which is enclosed within a protective housing mounted on the car, wherein the winding shaft is slidably connected to' the driving gearing, thereby protecting the bearings and other parts of the mechanism against end thrust.

Other objects of the invention will more clearly appear from the description and claim hereinafter following. In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure l is a side elevational view of one end of a railway stock car, said view beingpartly broken away and partly in section, and illustrating my improvements in connection therewith. Figure 2 is a transverse, vertical sectional view, corresponding substantially to the line 2-2 of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a side elevational view, on an enlarged scale, of the chain winding mechanism shown at the bottom of the car in Figure 2. Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view, corresponding substantially to the line 4-4 of Figure 3. Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3, with the front section of the housing removed, and showing the driving worm wheel of the worm gear mechanism partly in section. Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4, illustrating another embodiment of the invention.

In said drawings, In indicates 'the body of a railway stock car provided with an upper deck or floor ll, resting on supporting rails I2 secured to the inner sides of the side and end walls of the car. The deck or floor I l is arranged to be hoisted or raised, out of the way, positioned immediately below the roof the car, thereby making the car convertible to the single deck type. Raising and lowering of the deck I I is accomplished by means of a plurality of lifting chains I 3-43 at intervals along the length of the car, the chains l3 being arranged in sets, each set being anchored toopposite sides of the deck II and trained over suitable sheaves M-M at the top of the car at opposite sides thereof, the sheaves M at one side of the car only'being-shown in thedrawing's. Each set of chains lS-l3 is operatively connected 1 Claim. (Cl. 74-425) 2 V p to a vertically extending transmission chain l5 by a yoke rod l6.

In carrying out my invention, referring firs to the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 5 inelusive, I provide broadly a rotary shaft A, a worm wheel B for rotating the shaft A, a worm element C meshing with the worm wheel, a hand wheel D for actuating the worm element, and a chain winding shaft E. coupled to the rotary shaft A. I

The operating parts of the worm gear means, comprising the worm wheel B and the worm element C, are contained in a vertically split twopart housing 11 suspended from the side sill of the car, which side sill is indicated by Hi in' the drawings.

The two parts or sections of the housing, which are indicated by l9-l 9, are of similar design, the same being right and left, as seen in Figures 1 and 4. The housing ll comprises a hollow, drum like portion 28 provided with a-radially disposed, laterally extending chamber portion 2| of smaller size, communicating with the interior of said drum portion. Each section IQ of the housing has a vertical wall 22, which forms one of the opposite side walls of the housing, a cylindrical wall portion 23 extending laterally inwardly from the side wall and which forms part of the cylindrical outer wall of the drum portion 28 of the housing, horizontally disposed, short, top and bottom walls 24-24, and a vertical end wall 25, which form; respectively, portions of the top and bottom and end walls of the chamber portion 2|. Each part or section [9 of the housing is provided with a vertically disposed, securing flange 25 on its inner side extending from the wall 23 of the drum portion and the top, bottom, and side walls of the chamber portion 2! thereof. The two sections 19-19 of the housing 6'! are secured together by means of bolts 21-27, extending through the flanges 26-28. At the top thereof, the housing 11 is provided with two pairs of horizontally extending securing ears 28-28 and 28-28 at opposite sides thereof, formed, respectively, on the two sections of the housing and connected thereto by upstanding webs 28-2 9, the ears of each pair being located at opposite ends of the correspond ing web 29. The housing If is suspended from the side sill 18 by angle brackets 38-36 riveted to the sill. The ears 28-28 and 28-28 of the housing are bolted to the horizontal bottom flanges of the angle brackets. I

The worm wheel B is rotatably supported within the drum portion 20 of the housing, being sup ported on the shaft A, which extends there;

3 through, and has a cylindrical bearing portion 3| between its ends, which projects from opposite sides of the worm wheel and is journaled in aligned bearing openings 32-32 formed in the opposite side walls 22-22 of the housing. The

bearing openings 32-32 are reenforced by cylindrical flanges or sleeves 33-33, which project from the inner sides-of the walls'22-22; and embrace the hub portion 34 of the worm wheel B at opposite sides to hold the latter against lateral displacement within the housing.

The shaft A is endwise slidable or shiftable with respect to the worm Wheel B, but rotatable in unison therewith, being provided with length-.- wise extending, radially projecting key' portions. 35-35-35 engaged in key slots 36-36-36 formed in the hub portion ofv the worm wheel. B. As will be seen upon reference to Figure 4, the key portions 35 are shorter than the slots 36 in which they engage, thus providing clearance;- between the ends of the key portions and the inner ends of the bearing sleeves 33-33 to permit endwise displacement or shifting ofthe shaft A to a limited extent with respect to the worm-,wheelB and. the housing I'll Exteriorly of ,thehousing ll, the shaft A is of reduced diameter at each end thereof, each of said ends being-provided with a portion 3-! of considerably smaller-diameter. than the portion 31 and a section 38 between the portions 31 and 3i of a diameter slightlylarger than the portion 31, but smaller. than that of? the portion 3|.

Theworm element C'is arranged within the chamber. portion 2|, of the'housing and meshes Withzthe; worm. wheel B; being. supported by the hand wheel shaft 39, which is formed integral therewith; The hand wheel shaft 39 extends vertically'and' is: journaled in bearing members His-Mat the top and bottom of the chamber 2 I, formed-partly on each section I9 of the housing, eachhousing section carrying one-half of each bearingmember: 40. The lower end of the hand wheel shaft 39;-is of reduced diameter, as shown, andcarries the hand'wheel D, which preferably has. a' depending hand. grip. member 4! on the rim; thereof.

The split housing arrangement provides for assembling ofitheparts in the following manner: Azwormwheel Bis first placed in position on theshaft A; The worm element and the shaft A, with;the..-worm wheel B thereon, are then as. semblediwith one of the sections IQ of thehousingzby;v engagingone. endof the, shaft through therbearingopening 32 of. said housing section andplacing theworm in position by seating the bearing portions. of the hand wheel shaft 39 in the half sections of the; bearings 40-48. The 0ther;part:or:sectioniii of the. housing, is then placed: over; the assembled parts and the two parts or. sections i9-l9 are secured together byithebolts 21-21;

The, winding shaft E is in the form of a plurality; of cylindrical tubular members 42-42, coupled to opposite ends of the rotary shaft A of the worm .gear mechanism, being telescoped over the reduced end portions3'I-3'i of said shaft andsecured. thereto by pins 43-43.- Suitable bearing brackets, which depend from the-side si11.-l8'of the car, are provided at intervals along the shaft E for, rotatably supporting the same, only one of these brackets, which is indicated by 44, being shown in thedrawings. Thebracket 44, shownrin the drawings, is. at one end of the car and supports the corresponding. end of theshaft ll lnwardly of this bracket, the shaft E is provided with a winding section 45 to which the lower end of the transmission chain l at this end of the car is anchored. As will be understood, the shaft E is provided with similar winding sections at intervals throughout its length to take care of the several transmission chains of the different sets of lifting chains provided throughout the length of the car;

To. brace the shaft E against: endwise movement, abutment brackets are provided at opposite ends of the car, which engage the ends of the shaft. The abutment bracket at one end of the' car only is shown in the drawings, the same being indicated. by 46. This bracket is in the-form. ofianangle member having the horizontal flange 41 thereof secured to the underneath-side of the sill l8, and the depending vertical'flange 48'thereof bearing on the corresponding end of the shaft E. As will be evident, the shaft E, which extends from one end of the car to the: other, has considerable weight, and being subject to longitudinally acting jolts or jars in the stopping.v andstarting of the car, as well as: inswitching: operations, has a tendency to be displaced. lengthwise inopposite directions. The abutment brackets 46 serve to; brace the shaft E. against longitudinal shifting to a considerable. extent. However, any jolts. or jars to whiehithe shaft E.may besubjected, which are not taken careof by the-brackets 46, are also transmitted to the. rotary shaft-A of the worm gear driving operating; mechanism, but-in my improved constructionthe bearings and other parts-ofthe mechanism are relievedofsuch jolts and jarsrby the slidingarrangement of the'shaft A-in the-worm wheelB:and-bearingsofthe housing. ll; thus protecting'the parts against damage, which might. otherwise occur. This improved arrangement also relieves the-worm gear mechanism and housing of end thrust imparted'to'the winding shaft dueto winding of the chain there- Referring, next to the embodiment of the. invention illustrated'inFigure 6, the mechanism is thesame. as that illustrated in Figures 1.to 5 inclusivepwith. the exception that a somewhat different connection.- is employed between the retary shaftlof the worm gear. operated means and that the-worm wheel, which is indicated by F, and is carried by the rotary shaft, which is indicated. by I G,- is journaled on the bearing means enthehousing, whichis'indicated by ill. The housing. l H is of the same designas the housing 17 hereinbefore described, having transversely aligned openings I32-l32 in the. side Walls I22-I22' thereof. and. bearing sleeves l33-I33 projecting/inwardly frointhe side Walls i22-i 22. reenforcing the openings: I32-I 32..

The worm wheel F is-arranged tobe actuated by; the hand wheel actuated worm element-of the worm gear mechanism in a manner similar to the worm wheel B, hereinbefore described. The constructionof. theworm wheel F differs from the worm wheel B in that it. has the hub portion thereof, which isindicated by I34,- providedavith projecting cylindrical. flanges l50-l50" at oppositesides thereof, whichengage over andtare journaled on the inner ends of-the. bearing'sleeves |33-l33.- These overhanging flanges provide an efiective seal against leakage from i the housing of lubricating material used to lubricate the movingspartsof. the. mechanism.

, The rotary; shaftG, which is coupled to the chaimwinding shaftt-of the hoisting, meansinna 76 mannersim-ilarto.. that shown in FiguresLto 5 inclusive, is provided with an enlarged portion I51 of square cross section, which slidingly fits within the opening I52, which is also of square cross section, provided in the hub portion of the worm wheel F. The openings 132-132 in the housing, through which the enlarged portion of the shaft G extends'are of a diameter slightly greater than the diagonal dimension of the square portion l5l of the shaft to permit free rotation of the latter therein. The shaft G is thus, in effect, supported by the worm wheel, which is journaled on the bearing sleeves l33-l33 of the housing. As will be evident, the shaft G is lengthwise displaceable in a manner similar to the shaft A, hereinbefore described, to relieve the worm gear mechanism and the housing of end thrust.

I claim:

In a chain winding mechanism for the hoisting chain means of the upper deck of a railway car, the combination with a rotatably supported chain winding shaft on said car extending lengthwise of the same; of a manually actuated worm gear mechanism for rotating said shaft mounted on the car, said mechanism including a worm wheel with which said shaft and worm wheel are rotatable in unison, said shaft having a freely slidable slot and key connection with said worm wheel to permit lengthwise displacement of said shaft relative to the wheel; and fixed abutment means on the car engaging opposite ends of said shaft to oppose lengthwise displacement of the same. GEORGE E. DATI-Iv REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name I Date 685,544 Weimar Get. 29, 1901 744,308 DeWallace Nov. 17, 1903 747,463 Moore Dec. 22, 1903 904,931 Bowes, Jr Nov. 24, 1908 1,569,071 Chisam Jan. 12, 1926 1,661,988 Ayres Mar. 6, 1928 1,684,665 Edwards Sept. 18, 1928 1,721,565 Lee July 23, 1929 1,843,875 Kendall et a1. Feb. 2, 1932 1,950,618 Lounsbury Mar. 13, 1934 1,975,961 Lindeman Oct. 9, 1934 2,038,731 Gunderson Apr. 28, 1936 2,388,863 Noble Nov. 13, 1945 2,414,032 Fawkes Jan. 7, 1947 

